


Resolve

by Starrie_Wolf



Category: Bleach
Genre: Dimensional Travel, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Kurosaki Ichigo saves the world (as usual), Multiple Pov, Zine: Shounen Jump Big 3, accidental deity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:07:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26317669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: The Thousand-Year Blood War is won, but at too high a cost. Without a lynchpin to hold them together, the three worlds are fragmenting – until Ichigo sacrifices his humanity to become the next Soul King. Suspended out of time, he can do nothing but watch as his friends and family struggle to move on in a life without him.And then the Throne gives him a second option: to go back in time, back before the start of everything, and derail fate before it can come to pass.Ichigo takes it.
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo & Kurosaki Masaki, Kurosaki Isshin/Kurosaki Masaki
Comments: 65
Kudos: 673
Collections: Shady Fave Bleach (no major crossovers)





	Resolve

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the Shounen Jump Big 3 zine (2020).

Falling.

He’s falling, even though his feet are planted on the ground, even though –

Ichigo opens eyes he doesn’t remember closing. It’s the Human World, he notes at a glance, although it doesn’t look like Karakura Town. He turns in a circle, trying to see if he recognises his surroundings, and –

That’s his mother, he’s sure of it. He’ll recognise her anywhere, even if she looks far younger than he’s ever remembered her to be, wielding a bow he’s never known her to use, facing down a Hollow that’s too fast for her to hit.

Ichigo moves without thinking.

* * *

Masaki has known that she isn’t fast enough to avoid the Hollow barrelling towards her, but she has made her peace with it. If there’s something, _anything_ she can do to save someone, then she’s going to do it –

She blinks, and the field of her vision is suddenly filled with a broad back, long orange hair tumbling down like a waterfall.

A shinigami?

He’s not dressed like that other shinigami she’s trying to save though, devoid of the black garments that Masaki has been taught is their uniform. Maybe he’s off-duty?

She’s so surprised that she nearly let her arrow fly, but in a feat of panic that her instructors would have applauded her for, she somehow manages to dissolve the arrow back into ambient spirit particles before it can leave the bowstring. Those same instructors will have berated her for not taking advantage of the situation, but Masaki ignores their phantom scolding with the ease of long practice. It will be the height of ingratitude for her to shoot her own rescuer in the back.

Masaki takes a few steps back instead, widening her field of vision and giving herself more time to react. She can sense without turning her head that Ryūken has his own bow raised, but she knows him – he’s not going to shoot unless either of the strangers gives him cause to.

Her rescuer leans back casually, kicking the Hollow in the chest and bringing one of his swords down to slash through its mask in the same fluid movement, like it barely taxes him to do so. Masaki feels her mouth drop open, and she can see the first shinigami do the same.

* * *

Isshin curses as he struggles upright, now that the Hollow’s attention is no longer on him.

That… that’s definitely some kind of Menos, even if it feels more like a shinigami. It doesn’t look like a Gillian, which means it’s an Adjuchas at the very least – and this newcomer has just finished it off like he is swatting a fly.

Isshin can’t sense his presence either. Which means… his reiatsu so far transcends Isshin’s that he can’t even sense him anymore? Before he can even begin to process the implications of that conclusion, their rescuer turns and makes a pulling motion, like he’s peeling away a layer of protective film – or a concealment kidō.

What is Captain Aizen Sōsuke doing in Naruki City? Or his former lieutenant Ichimaru Gin, or Captain Tōsen Kaname?

Does… does that mean _one of his own colleagues_ is the one who attacked him earlier?

The three of them seem to be just as surprised to be revealed, but they react almost instantly. Isshin opens his mouth to shout a warning, even steels himself to raise Engetsu again, but he needn’t have bothered. The newcomer spins in a flash-step Isshin hasn’t seen since the days of Shihōin Yoruichi, neatly grabs the three zanpakutō, and then _snaps_ their blades like they are wooden training swords.

Aizen snarls something highly uncomplimentary, expression twisted with unadulterated rage. He thrusts a hand out, palm-first, and Isshin recognises the opening stance for Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō immediately. He lurches forward, and is barely fast enough to grab the human girl and pull her out of the blast radius.

“Bakudō #81, Dankū!”

Isshin prides himself on being somewhat of a kidō specialist, given the natural aptitude of his clan, but even then he’s nearly blown off his feet. It’s not even the main force of the blast, he thinks dazedly to himself, it’s just the _backwash_. Isshin has seen weaker kidō from the current Kidō Corps Commander, and Aizen hasn’t even used the incantation.

Just what is going on?

“Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi!”

Isshin inhales sharply. There’s nothing he can do to help, Dankū doesn’t work against level nineties hadō –

Their rescuer slashes an arm through the air, shredding the black spiritual coffin forming around him like it’s made of _tissue paper_. Aizen takes a step back, face frozen in a rictus of horror and shock, but he’s not fast enough to avoid the reiatsu-binding cord tightening around his wrists. It’s the high-quality kind, threaded through a ring of reiatsu-leeching stones like a bracelet; Aizen is not getting out of them without help.

Tōsen shouts something unintelligible and charges forwards, but he soon meets with the same fate.

Silently, Ichimaru offers up his own wrists. The usual fox-like grin is missing from his face, and he looks oddly vulnerable without it. Isshin really doesn’t look forward to breaking the news of his apparently treason to Rangiku.

The whole ordeal has taken maybe five minutes.

A tug at his hand reminds him that he’s still clutching the human girl’s wrist. Isshin hastily lets go, and she steps out from behind him, as regal as a Kuchiki princess.

“Can I – may I have the honour of knowing my saviour’s name?”

Casting her a frankly terrified look, the newcomer _flees_.

* * *

Ichigo stares down at his hands. They’re shaking faintly.

Aizen is – his old man is – his _mother_ is –

Behind him, the Soul King’s Throne thrums with power, as though reminding him of his appointed task.

Ichigo curls his hands into fists. He doesn’t have the time for this. He has a Hōgyoku – _two_ Hōgyoku, Aizen’s and Urahara’s – to steal.

The power of a god is never meant for the hands of a mortal.

It’s easy enough, now that there’s no one who can sense his presence, to walk into Aizen’s main lab in Rukongai, tear the wards away, and retrieve the Hōgyoku. It’s even easier to walk into the warehouse Urahara is camping in – not yet a shop, and perhaps never a shop – and tap the password old Hat-and-Clogs had once shown him into the array that’s keeping the Hōgyoku hidden. With the way Aizen is currently held in the Tower of Penitence and Urahara is running around like a headless chicken trying to figure out what is going on, neither of them will be discovering the loss for a long time.

* * *

He can’t stay here.

The Soul King’s Palace is completely devoid of life. It may not have been the case centuries – millennia? – ago, but the halls are now barren and all of this sheer _whiteness_ is driving Ichigo a little crazy.

The Soul King’s Throne is quiescent, now that he fulfilled what he came back in time to do, and Ichigo is not yet so crazy that he will stoop to conversing with sentient furniture.

Ichigo tears a Senkaimon open and leaves.

* * *

Somehow, he’s not surprised to find himself in Karakura Town. He’s had – it’s been – this place is still _home_ , even if he’s over twenty years in the past and he doesn’t recognise half the shops. The building that will one day be the Kurosaki Clinic is home to another family now, and Ichigo quickens his steps so that he doesn’t have to look at it anymore.

He’s done it. He’s saved the world from Aizen.

He’ll never see his friends and family again, but it’s worth it to know that they’re safe.

Belatedly, Ichigo realises that his feet have carried him automatically down the streets to what was – will be Urahara Shōten one day, but what meets his eyes is not another shop.

It’s an abandoned, dilapidated shrine.

As though in a dream, Ichigo mechanically goes through the process of cleaning his hands and mouth before setting foot in the shrine itself.

It’s for a local deity, he notes immediately, which explains the state it’s in. Shrines dedicated to the main pantheon or celebrated figures would never be left to ruin like this. Ichigo claps the requisite three times, bows carefully, and then circles around the shrine to take a look at the annex where the shrine attendant used to live. An idea is taking root in his brain, one he cannot believe he’s entertaining, but – what’s the harm, really? It’s not like he can stay in that palace of endless white, and with Aizen standing trial for his crimes it’s likely that Urahara will never need to set up shop in Karakura.

* * *

It’s a human tradition, Masaki explains to her newly-wed husband, to pay respects at the local shrine on important occasions. Getting married certainly counts as one of them.

She can tell that Isshin doesn’t understand, cannot figure out the purpose behind praying to a higher power that they both know does not exist. He goes along with it anyway because he loves her, loves the family they are creating together, and watching him gamely attempt to copy how she performs the purification ritual is enough to make her smile.

The shrine is small but well-maintained, the faint scent of sandalwood and cherry blossoms permeating the air. A local deity, she thinks, and wonders about the story behind it. Perhaps she will ask the shrine attendant –

“Oh!”

The shrine attendant blinks at her, broom in hand, and then freezes like a deer in headlights.

It’s _him_. The one who saved her – saved Isshin too, and from what he told her nipped a shinigami coup in the bud – when she was fifteen.

“Are you a god?” slips out of her mouth before she can think better of it.

The attendant blinks again, like he actually has to think about the answer. “… no?”

That pause is hardly convincing, Masaki thinks wildly to herself, and tugs on Isshin’s arm even though she knows Isshin must recognise him as well as she did. “We never got a chance to introduce ourselves,” she says. “My name is Kurosaki Masaki, and this is my husband Kurosaki Isshin.”

Something flickers in the depths of the shrine attendant’s eyes, there and gone again too fast for her to read.

“My name,” he says haltingly, “is Morinosuke.”

“Morinosuke,” she repeats. “ _Forest_ and –”

“No,” he cuts her off, and then immediately looks abashed for doing it. “ _Protect_ and _aid_.”

Someone who protects and offers aid, hmm? “What a nice name,” she comments, and politely doesn’t point out the fact that Morinosuke flushes red immediately.

They don’t stay long. Morinosuke is skittish at best around them, like he doesn’t quite know how to interact with people, which does not lend credibility to his claims that he is not a local deity. Masaki cannot help but remember Ryūken’s throwaway comment, when he took over the job of Director for Karakura General Hospital, that Karakura Town has far less Hollows than expected.

On the way home, Masaki smiles at her husband and touches her belly gently. “I think I know what I want to call this one.”

* * *

The next time Morinosuke sees Masaki again, she’s holding a tiny bundle.

“This is Ichigo,” she says, showing him the baby sleeping in the swaddle. “ _One who protects_. We named him after the man who saved our lives.”

He doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

* * *

It’s raining.

Little Ichigo skips from puddle to puddle, his big waterproof boots making gigantic splashes as he does so.

There’s a _really_ big puddle right up ahead, and Ichigo turns around to make sure his mama is watching when he makes the _gigantamost_ splash ever. As he does so, his attention is caught by something he doesn’t expect to see in this weather.

Is… is somebody standing down by the riverbank?

“Mama, there’s somebody down there!”

It’s a girl, he realises. Her back is to him, and she’s so close to the river that he can see water lapping at her shoes. She looks like she’s going to jump in.

The river is moving very, very fast. If the girl jumps in, she’s going to drown.

Ichigo is scrambling down the muddy slope before he can think about it.

“Ichigo!”

His name is _Ichigo_! His mama says this means he should go around protecting people!

“Ichigo, wait!”

“Hey, you!” Ichigo shouts as he runs. “That’s dangerous, get away from there!”

The girl doesn’t look like she can hear him. Well, then he’s just going to have to push her away from the river!

He’s only a few metres away when the girl jerks like a puppet getting its strings pulled, flying into the air. Ichigo screams, scuttling backwards. The… the girl just turned into a giant monster? Did the monster eat the girl already, and now it’s going to eat him too?

“Get away from my son!”

Ichigo tries to run towards his mama, but the muddy riverbank is too slippery and he falls.

“Mama, run!”

He looks up, tears in his eyes, but she isn’t running away. Instead, she’s coming closer, and there’s a pretty blue bow in her hands. It almost looks like… it’s glowing?

The monster shrieks in pain behind him. His mama clicks her fingers, and another glowing arrow appears on the bowstring.

_So cool._

Something slams into the ground beside his leg, and Ichigo yelps in fright. He curls up into a ball, chancing a glance back. There are glowing arrows sticking out of the monster, but it’s not dead yet, and its flailing limbs are coming closer to his head.

There’s a weird gust of wind, and then Ichigo is no longer lying in the mud. No, he’s being carried by… he looks up, and squints in surprise at the unexpectedly familiar face. Isn’t that Old Man Morinosuke, who tends to the local shrine?

“Ossan, you’re a monster fighter too?”

Old Man Morinosuke stares down at him with a weird expression. He doesn’t answer, but that’s okay, Mama has already explained to him that Old Man Morinosuke isn’t good at talking to people.

He twists around, peering around Old Man Morinosuke’s shoulder. They didn’t go very far after all, just out of reach of the big bad monster. It’s now lying on the ground, pretty blue arrows sticking out of it. And that’s his mama running towards him, her glowing bow nowhere to be seen.

“Mama!”

She skids to a stop in front of them, hauling Ichigo into a fierce hug. Ichigo clings on just as tightly; he may be a big boy now, but he also just nearly got eaten by a _scary monster_ –

“Morinosuke-sama,” his mama says breathlessly, “how can my family ever hope to repay you –”

“There is no need,” Old Man Morinosuke says awkwardly. He gives them a little bow, and then begins walking in the direction of his shrine.

Ichigo tugs on his mama’s sleeve to get her attention. “Can you teach me how to shoot monsters too?”

* * *

Morinosuke pokes his head out the moment he feels a familiar reiatsu in front of the shrine. It’s not a special occasion in the Kurosaki family, so why is his mother visiting...

“Morinosuke-sama,” she greets politely. Morinosuke wishes she would drop that suffix already, but he must’ve gotten his stubbornness from somewhere.

Then he catches sight of the dark-haired little boy standing beside her, hands still clasped in prayer.

“Uryū-kun,” Masaki coaxes, “meet Morinosuke-sama, the guardian of Karakura Town.”

Ishida blinks suspiciously at him. He’s… ten, if Morinosuke remembers correctly. He doesn’t remember ever meeting Ishida as a child, but he supposes there has never been a reason for them to, after his mother’s death.

“Uryū-kun’s grandfather recently passed away,” Masaki explains, “so I’ve taken him into my care.”

That’s new, but it’s exactly like her to do so. She grew up with the Ishida family, if Morinosuke remembers correctly. With Ishida’s mother dead to Yhwach’s Auswählen and the irreconcilable differences between Ishida and his father, she must’ve taken it upon herself to give Ishida a proper home.

“The shinigami murdered him,” mutters Ishida angrily.

“No,” corrects Masaki patiently, “the Hollows killed him. The shinigami –” she sighs, pausing. “There just aren’t enough of them to respond quickly to emergencies.” She squats down to Ishida’s level, making sure he’s looking at her. “Or do you blame Uncle Isshin and me for not being able to get there in time as well?”

“No!” Ishida scowls. “That’s – that’s different.” He seems to realise the fallacy in his words, though, as he twists his face away. Masaki puts a hand on his shoulder and gently steers him out of the shrine, nodding apologetically at Morinosuke as she passes.

Morinosuke watches them leave, a bittersweet feeling rising up in his chest.

Well, Ishida will be well-cared for in this lifetime, at least.

* * *

Two years later, he’s almost unsurprised to see yet another addition to the family.

Inoue pokes her fingers together, staring shyly down at the floor as she is introduced to Morinosuke.

“Isshin is ecstatic to have another daughter,” Masaki confides with a conspiratory little smile. Remembering how Isshin reacted to Rukia, Morinosuke nods, unsurprised.

He also remembers Acidwire.

“Inoue-san, is it?” At her hesitant nod, he gets down to her level. Years of running a shrine has, at least, taught him how to deal with children. “You look troubled. Would you like to make a wish?”

She blinks at him in confusion, and then looks at Masaki for approval, who gives her an encouraging nod. In a small voice, she says, “I wish, wherever my brother is, that he’s happier now.”

“I’ll make sure he is,” Morinosuke assures her.

* * *

Ichigo marches up the path to the shrine, hauling his new friend behind him. Just like every other time he’s come here, Old Man Morinosuke appears silently at the gates as though summoned.

“This is Chad,” Ichigo says, pushing the other boy forwards. “He just moved to Japan.”

Old Man Morinosuke blinks placidly, looking as unruffled as always.

Chad mumbles something, but Ichigo can’t understand him with how thick his accent is.

“He was getting bullied,” he explains brusquely. Ichigo doesn’t know exactly what’s going on, but his mother deliberately introduces all her children to Old Man Morinosuke, so that’s what Ichigo’s doing now.

He’ll protect Chad, of course, but he can’t be around all the time. Old Man Morinosuke bows slightly, and Ichigo knows he’s heard the unspoken request. Chad will be safe under his watch.

Because Old Man Morinosuke is the guardian deity of Karakura Town, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Discord](https://discord.gg/8yJVmbD) | [Tumblr](http://starriewolf.tumblr.com)


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